mixtape songs /

1. Ladyhawk - Ladyhawk
Pitchfork called this one a downer. Allow me to retort. One night when going out for drinks to celebrate a friend’s birthday, five of us piled into my car and played Dugout over and over, screaming the words, high-fiving and laughing uncontrollably. During the drive we realized that we had the lyrics wrong (“I’m haunting the basement again,” not “I’m down in the basement again” or “mom’s in the basement again”) and got sore throats. Remember, this was on our way to get drinks. That’s a good time, as far as I’m concerned.

Ladyhawk - Dugout
Ladyhawk - My Old Jacknife Video

2. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
People went crazy for their first one, but I never understood what the big deal was. It sounded like lo-fi folk with sound textures, right at the time when “freak-folk” was hitting it big, so it didn’t stand out. But this one blew my mind. To borrow an analogy from someone else talking about something else, if the first one was black and white then this one is technicolour. Like that one scene in The Wizard of Oz.

Grizzly Bear - On a Neck, on a Spit

3. Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol
Another case where I couldn’t get behind the first album, but this one is incredible. It’s like a folksy Suicide, and all the songs are about God. It sounds like driving around East-Van early in the morning and having a mild existential crisis.

Pink Mountaintops - New Drug Queens

4. Soul Sides Vol. 1
I’ve noticed that I consume a lot more music than I used to. I acquire more albums, and I get sick of them more quickly. To make matters worse, this year I got a computer and discovered mp3 blogs. Now I download tons of songs and rarely even listen to the whole thing to see if they’re any good. But one blog where the songs not only hold my interest but actually make it onto regular rotation is soul-sides.com. Maybe it’s because I know so little about this music, but it doesn’t really matter. This comp is the “rawest and rarest” of what’s come out on the blog.

Soul Sides Vol. 1 - Charles May and Annette May Thomas: Keep My Baby Warm Sample

5. Liars - Drum’s Not Dead
There’s something in me that makes me want to know why other people are so excited about things. When I was in junior high I started drinking black coffee because it seemed like everyone’s so passionate about it. I gave it a month, but I never came around to enjoying coffee in the least. When this album came out it got rave reviews, so I wanted to check it out. At first I didn’t really “get it.” It’s kind of drone and kind of drum circle, and didn’t sound like anything else I listen to. But I gave it a couple more tries and started hearing the songs more. And now it’s one of the prettiest cd’s I have.

Visit Liars Downloads

6. Joanna Newsom - Ys
Take the first album, make it less majestic elf, and stretch all the songs out to ten minutes. I don’t know how that’s a recipe for a great album, but it is.

View Joanna Newsom videos

7. Pride Tiger - Pride Tiger
Have you ever wondered if when you die you’ll be able to examine your life stats? Things like how many hours you’ve waited in line, how many boys or girls you’ve kissed, how many steps you’ve taken, and how many times you’ve said “dude”? One of my roommates is convinced that although this album has only been out for a year, it’s number one in his life stats. It’s 25 minutes of boogie-rock, and you’ll listen to it over and over.

Pride Tiger - Sweet Dreams
Pride Tiger - What it is

8. Damien Jurado - And now that I’m in your shadow
Over the last three months, in a long-distance relationship that was slowly but clearly falling apart, I listened to “I Am Still Here” more than any other song. I probably won’t listen to it ever again.

Damien Jurado - What Were The Chances

9. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up, I Am Dreaming
I often find side-projects cruddy and self-indulgent, but I listen to this one even more than Wolf Parade. Strong melodies, memorable lines, and a strange fixation on mother-son relationships.

Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II

10. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Sometimes it’s hard to convince people that bar-rock songs about drinking are not only literary but also awesome, but those people are idiots.

Visit The Hold Steady Downloads

Honourable mentions: Jon-Rae and the River, M. Ward, Beirut, Adem, TV On the Radio, Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound